Many kinds of prosthetic implantable knee prostheses are known to those skilled in this art. One type of knee prosthesis is a posterior stabilized prosthesis, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,213,209 and 4,298,992. In the posterior-stabilized prosthesis, the tibial component has a central keel or post which extends upwardly from an articulating surface, and is adapted to extend between the condyles of the mating femoral prosthesis. This keel may be captured in a box structure or there may be a transverse post or bar which extends between the posterior portions of the condyles of the femoral prosthesis. As the knee articulates the keel engages sides of the femoral prosthesis located adjacent the condyles, thereby stabilizing the action of the knee. As the knee approaches full flexation, the keel commonly encounters a back wall of the box or the aforementioned transverse bar. The interaction of the keel and bar operate to force the femoral component to roll slightly posteriorly along the tibial component.
In order to employ such a prosthesis, it is necessary to cut away a portion of the femur which will lie between the condyles of the femoral prosthesis. Such a removal of bone material is necessary so that the keel may slide between the condyles without obstruction. Various jigs and apparatus have been proposed for the removal of the bone material between the condyles. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,684 to Ferrante, et al. and related U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,100,409 to Coates, et al. and 5,098,436 to Ferrante, et al.